When Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, spoke about the legacy he wanted to leave, he certainly didn’t follow suit with Steve Jobs.

In the authorized biography he penned, Walter Isaacson explained how Jobs, led by ego and ambition, set out to build a legacy that would leave people in awe. Conversely, as Cook recently told the Bloomberg Global Forum in New York, all that really matters is that people say this about him after he passes on: “He was a good and decent man.”

Whether intentional or not, each of us is creating a legacy through the things we do and say each day. Legacy may seem like something that’s evaluated at the end of your life, but it’s actually created by your everyday behaviors and choices.

]]>http://hpwpconsulting.com/shapeyourcompanyslegacy/feed/0Keys To Hiring High-Performing Frontline Leadershttp://hpwpconsulting.com/3-keys-to-hiring-high-performing-frontline-leaders/
http://hpwpconsulting.com/3-keys-to-hiring-high-performing-frontline-leaders/#respondMon, 09 Oct 2017 07:13:12 +0000http://hpwpconsulting.com/?p=1835Manufacturing lives and dies by the numbers. Measurable data that tells you whether you have met production goals or are running at full capacity is an essential part of improving operations and safety at any well-run company. But leadership skills are what companies really need to grow and innovate.

Yet many frontline leaders (FLLs) don’t possess critical leadership skills — a discrepancy that can have dire consequences. At the heart of this problem are expectations set by senior leadership that are far too low. Consequently, traditional job descriptions often fail to communicate the skills that FLLs actually need to succeed.

For example, a low-expectation job description might state, “Do whatever it takes to make sure the job gets done,” whereas high-performance expectations require potential FLLs to “Inspire and develop a highly competent team that continuously produces the highest-quality products in the most cost-effective way.

]]>http://hpwpconsulting.com/3-keys-to-hiring-high-performing-frontline-leaders/feed/0A Critical Leadership Skill: Managing a Remote Workforcehttp://hpwpconsulting.com/a-critical-leadership-skill-managing-a-remote-workforce/
http://hpwpconsulting.com/a-critical-leadership-skill-managing-a-remote-workforce/#respondWed, 27 Sep 2017 19:56:16 +0000http://hpwpconsulting.com/?p=1813The 9-to-5 workweek in the office is quickly becoming obsolete. Remote workers are more common, but some companies aren’t embracing the trend. Early in 2017, IBM announced that all remote workers would now have to work in one of its six main offices around the United States.

Any employee who refused would be terminated, and employees didn’t even get to choose which office they were going to. IBM’s explanation was that it needed greater innovation, and some leaders share the belief that direct supervision of employees is the key to being the most productive. However, not trusting employees to perform out of your sight makes hiring and retaining high-performing people a challenge.

IBM isn’t the only major company requiring all employees to work in the office. There are a lot of misconceptions about a remote workforce, and the biggest is that work won’t get done at home. Managers fear that letting one person work from home will make others want to do the same, and there’s also the assumption that managing remote workers is too different from managing in-house employees. But the job is basically the same: All you need to do is use technology more creatively, be sensitive to people feeling isolated, and schedule regular communication.

]]>http://hpwpconsulting.com/a-critical-leadership-skill-managing-a-remote-workforce/feed/0The High Price of Overly Prescriptive HR Policieshttp://hpwpconsulting.com/the-high-price-of-overly-prescriptive-hr-policies/
http://hpwpconsulting.com/the-high-price-of-overly-prescriptive-hr-policies/#respondFri, 15 Sep 2017 19:46:33 +0000http://hpwpconsulting.com/?p=1810Recently, one of my colleagues left our firm to make significantly more money at another company. We wanted to keep her, but the commission-based salary offered by the other company was more than we could match. She hadn’t realized how long her new commute would be during rush hour, however, and after three days of long, round-trip commutes during rush-hour traffic, she asked to shift her schedule an hour earlier to spend less time in unproductive gridlock.

Her manager denied her request, saying, “If we did it for you, we’d have to do it for others.”

It was good news for us; she was back with our team the following Monday.

Too many companies’ HR policies are overly restrictive. Such policies are often convoluted and overly paternal, and attempt to control the behavior of regular people through rules designed to rein in the “bad apples.”

]]>http://hpwpconsulting.com/the-high-price-of-overly-prescriptive-hr-policies/feed/0It’s gone viral!http://hpwpconsulting.com/its-gone-viral/
http://hpwpconsulting.com/its-gone-viral/#respondWed, 03 May 2017 22:18:41 +0000http://hpwpconsulting.com/?p=1705Do you know which Harvard Business Review article has the most shares this year?

It has over 25,000 shares and it was written by Sue Bingham, Founder and Principal at HPWP Consulting!

Working from Home – Problem or Solution? Join us May 23 at 1pm ET.Register here.

We hope you’ll join us for the webinar series and share the Harvard Business Review article. Wouldn’t it be great to inspire more trust in our workplaces today?

]]>http://hpwpconsulting.com/its-gone-viral/feed/0Why You Shouldn’t Be Proud of a “Compliant” Workforcehttp://hpwpconsulting.com/why-you-shouldnt-be-proud-of-a-compliant-workforce/
http://hpwpconsulting.com/why-you-shouldnt-be-proud-of-a-compliant-workforce/#respondFri, 14 Apr 2017 23:22:24 +0000http://hpwpconsulting.com/?p=1696In my experience, most leaders want to cultivate a work environment where employees feel like valued individuals — they’re just terrified of being sued. This may explain why HR departments are often empowered to focus solely on mitigating the risk of bad apples.

And employees can tell: A survey by Globoforce found that 47% of employees don’t believe their employers care about developing a “human” workplace.

In a wonderful onboarding program I was fortunate to participate in, new hires were asked about previous negative work experiences. One woman shared that when her grandmother (who had raised her) passed away, her employer wouldn’t allow her any bereavement time off. Company policy applied to “immediately family” only, and her grandmother didn’t meet that definition.

At this time of year, many of us make New Year’s resolutions to live a healthier lifestyle, break bad habits or to develop better relationships. These are important changes to be sure, but with one third (or more) of our time invested at the office, what about resolving to be a better leader?

As Baby Boomers retire and Millennials become major contributors in the workforce, leaders must adapt. Successful leaders will need to create a culture where employees feel respected and valued and where they can contribute their best work every day.

Looking ahead to the new year, here are 5 ways leaders can take action to lead differently.

HPWP Consulting honors Kathy Rowley, General Counsel & Chief Human Resources Officer at Research Now. She was presented the award for “Strategic Leader” and honored at a luncheon of HR professionals in Dallas, TX.

Kathy has been an innovator in creating and implementing Research Now’s positive work culture throughout its global operations. She has effectively used the HPWP culture to form a common language across operations leading to greater collaboration, higher levels of team member satisfaction and increased business unit cooperation.

“Excellent Human Resources leaders accomplish their work by influencing others, envisioning the future and conceptualizing the right thing to do today,” said Sue Bingham, Founder and Principal of HPWP Consulting. “Kathy has done this by forming a clear vision that culture is a uniting force capable of overcoming differences.”

From the start, Kathy’s vision was to use culture to break-down barriers and silos around the world and within departments.

With great fortitude, Kathy has executed that vision by rolling out the common values of Research Now’s culture through numerous global training initiatives. As an executive sponsor and champion, Kathy has been hands-on by being active at key training initiatives worldwide, providing valuable support and mentoring facilitators and trainers.

As part of their HPWP implementation, the Research Now team created their own cultural index which they administered quarterly so it was more than just an annual snapshot. Since survey work is part of their business, they were able to achieve quick, responsive turnaround. Armed with this valuable information, employee action teams were established to address issues that rated lower. At the time, Research Now’s survey demonstrated continued upticks in morale and engagement, resulting in higher performance.

Finally, Kathy led Research Now in the effort to remove behavior-controlling policies that are all too common in the HR field. In its place, she implemented “one standard of conduct” which says: Every employee is expected to act in the best interest of the company and his/her fellow employees. With the expectation that employees will behave as adults, Kathy is succeeding in creating a much more empowered workforce globally.

Congratulations to Kathy Rowley and the entire team at Research Now!

]]>http://hpwpconsulting.com/honoring-a-strategic-leader-award-recipient/feed/0If Employees Don’t Trust You, It’s Up to Youhttp://hpwpconsulting.com/if-employees-dont-trust-you-its-up-to-you-to-fix-it/
http://hpwpconsulting.com/if-employees-dont-trust-you-its-up-to-you-to-fix-it/#respondMon, 02 Jan 2017 19:27:55 +0000http://hpwpconsulting.com/?p=1579Three years ago, 37% of CEOs were concerned about a lack of trust in businesses, according to the PwC Annual Global CEO survey. Across industries, that number has climbed to 55%.

A high level of trust between managers and employees defines the best workplaces and drives overall company performance and revenue. As Stephen M. R. Covey writes in The Speed of Trust, “When trust goes down (in a relationship, on a team, in an organization, or with a partner or customer), speed goes down and cost goes up.… The inverse is equally true: When trust goes up, cost goes down, and speed goes up.” Because less than 50% of lower-level (nonexecutive, nonmanagerial) employees trust the companies they work for, employers have to carefully consider how they can build trusting relationships with their employees.

Employees who don’t trust their managers usually point to big-picture, obvious things: Their superiors skate the edges of ethical behavior, hide information, take credit for others’ hard work, or flat-out deceive people. Over my many years of helping organizations create high-performance workplaces, I’ve seen firsthand how untrustworthy managers damage morale and productivity. If employees are tight-lipped about problems until their manager exits the room and then suddenly have lots of things to tell me about his secretiveness, bullying, and penchant for pitting them against one another, the problems are easy to identify.

]]>http://hpwpconsulting.com/if-employees-dont-trust-you-its-up-to-you-to-fix-it/feed/0So Their Resumes Rock, Are They Also Good Fits?http://hpwpconsulting.com/so-their-resumes-rock-are-they-also-good-fits/
http://hpwpconsulting.com/so-their-resumes-rock-are-they-also-good-fits/#respondWed, 28 Dec 2016 00:27:20 +0000http://hpwpconsulting.com/?p=1548When Barnes & Noble announced it was parting ways with CEO Rob Boire, he’d been on the job for less than a year. The company spent millions of dollars to settle claims, after declaring Boire “wasn’t a good fit.” If the hiring team had connected the dots earlier, that big headache could have been avoided.

Many of us have fallen into this trap. We speak with someone who looks good on paper, presents well in person, and is engaging throughout the interview. Then we find out that, while this person has talent, he or she doesn’t mesh easily into the culture.

Hiring is simple nuts and bolts — the hard part is succeeding at hiring the right people for the right jobs. And the discipline required to practice these processes consistently is difficult because of pressure to fill the gap. When interviewing candidates, you have to read between the lines, weighing cultural fit (can they contribute to a high-performance environment?), values (are theirs in line with yours?), and attributes of character (do they display your organization’s standard of integrity?) as heavily as skill sets.